Machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers



Feb. 19, 1952 J, GUDGER 2,585,931

MACHINE FOR SLITTING THE MARGINSIE' SHOE UPPERS I 'Filed'A ril 21, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 19, 1952 J GUDGER 2,585,931

MACHINE FOR SLITTING THE MARGINS OF SHOE UPPERS Filed April 21, 1951 3 Shee'ts-Sheet 2 [rave n to r Jesse Guage r I By itorney Feb. 19, 1952- J. GUDGER I MACHINE FOR SLITTING THE MARGINS Filed April 21 1951 OF SHOE UPPERS s Sheets-Shet s jnven tor Jesse Gudger- Patented Feb. 19, 1952 MACHINE FOR SLITTING THE MARGINS OF SHOE UPPEBS Jesse 'Gudger, Leicester, England, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 21, 1951, Serial No. 222,199 In Great Britain May 9, 1950 This invention relates to machines for slitting the margins of shoe uppers to prepare the uppers for lasting, and is herein shown as embodied in a machine constructed in many respects as disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,523,480, granted on September 26, 1950, on an application of J. W. Pratt. It is to be understood, however, that in various novel aspects the invention is not limited to this illustrative embodiment.

The machine shown in the above-mentioned Letters Patent is a machine for forming slits in the margins of the toe ends of uppers before the uppers are mounted on lasts, the depth to which the slits extend inwardly from the edge of each upper being determined by gages in contact with the edge of' the upper. In view of the fact that uppers of a given size, even when out from apparently similar material, may not always stretch to the same extent in the pulling-over operation, the locations of the inner ends of the slits so formed relatively to the edge of the insole after the toe-lasting operation may vary undesirably indiiferent shoes. For purposes of the present invention, therefore, the machine herein shown is constructed to form slits in, the margins of the toe ends of uppers after the uppers have been mounted on lasts and subjected to the usual pulling-over operation and, it may be, to the usual side-lasting operation beyond their toe-end portions. At the time of the upper-slitting'operation, therefore, each upper will already have been stretched substantially to the extent required, thus rendering "it practicable to determine with substantial accuracy the distance from the edge of the insole of the inner ends of the slits when the toe is lasted. For this purpose the machine herein shown is provided with a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom face of the toe end of the insole to position the toe end of the shoe heightwise relatively to the path of movement of an upper-slitting knife which is operated intermittently in time relation to intermittent movements of a pair of feed rolls engaging the margin of the upper. The shoe is further supported and controlled by the hands of the operator and itsheel end is swung laterally as the feed :rolls act progressively on the upper around the toe. It is contemplated that when the toe end of the upper includes a plurality of layers of upper materials the upper-slitting knife will preferably cut through all the layers. For convenience .of illustration, however, the toe end of the upper is herein shown as comprising only a: single layer.

The aboveand other featuresof the invention,

11 Claims. (CL. 12'5.1)

including also novel means for clamping the margin of the upper intermittently in time relation to the operations of the upper-slitting knife to prevent its displacement by the knife and various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be'moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view in right-hand side elevationof a portion of the machine in which the invention is herein shown as embodied, with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is mainly a plan view of a portion of the structure including the instrumentalities which act on the upper, the upper-slitting knife being shown-in its initial retracted position;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the knife in upper-slitting position;

Fig. 4 is a view in frontelevation of the portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line V--V of Fig. 3-;

v Fig. 6 shows in right-hand side elevation a portion of a shoe as it appears after the toe end of the upper has been operated upon by the machine; and r Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the portion of the shoe shown Fig. 6.

Themachine shown has amulti-part head casting I supported on the upper end of a column 3 at a height convenient for the operator. For supporting the marginal portion of the toe end of theupper in the upper-slitting operation there is provided a shear block 5 mounted as hereinafter described and having a horizontal top supporting surface '1 (Figs. 2 and 5) a downwardly curved upper-engaging surface '9' and an inclined plane surface l0 extending between the surfaces I and 9, the two surfaces 1 and i0 meeting at a shearing edge N (Fig. 2) on the block. When a shoe is presented to the machine the upper willhave been pulled over the last and, as herein illustrated, will usually have been secured beyond its too portion in side-lasted relation to an insole on the last. The pulling-over .tack at the extreme end of the toe will have been removed and the margin of the toe end of the upper will extend generally heightwise .of the last except in locations adjacent to the portions of the margin already secured to the insole in overlapping relation to thebottom face thereof at the sides of the shoe-bottom.

The operator presents the shoe with the-margin of the upper overlyingthe shear block. 5 and with the bottom face of the toe end of the insole in engagement with a substantially vertical front face of a shoe rest l3 which, by thus positioning the shoe, limits the depth to which the slits formed in the margin of the upper will extend inwardly from the edge of the upper. The shoe rest preferably is made of sheet metal a portion of which is bent substantially in U-shape as viewed in plan. Located at the rear of the front portion of the shoe rest is the shear block 5 and also a lower feed roll l5 fast on the front end of a rearwardly and downwardly inclined shaft IT. This shaft is journaled in appropriate hearings in a block I9 which is secured to-a plate 22 by bolts 24 extending through vertical slots in the plate. The plate 22 is secured to the head casting I, and the block |9 also has secured to it the shear block 5.

The roll i5 is somewhat frusto-conical in form and the shaft H is connected by a universal coupling l2 to another similarly inclined shaft l4. end of a rearwardly extending inclined shaft l8 journaled in a block 29 which is mounted for limited upward or downward swinging movement on a pin 26 in the plate 22. A spring 2| connected at one end to a tension-adjusting screw (not shown) and at its other end to an arm 23 of a lever pivotally mounted between its ends on a stud 25 in the plate 22 tends to move the roll l8 toward the roll l5, the other arm of the lever being connected to the block 20 by means of a pin 27 extending from the block through a slot in the plate 22 and into a slot in the end Another feed roll IE is fast on the front of the arm. Contact of the two feed rolls with I each other when there is no work in the machine is prevented by a suitable stop (not shown). To permit the margin of the upper to be introduced between the rolls the arm 23 is connected by a link 28 to a treadle 29 by depression of which the roll I6 may be moved upwardly away from the roll I5. To prevent the rolls from slipping on the margin of the upper their peripheral surfaces are serrated.

The shafts i1 and I8 are arranged to be driven respectively by shafts 3| and 33, the shaft 3| being connected by a universal coupling 34 to the rear end of the shaft l4 and the shaft 33 being connected by a universal coupling (not shown) to the rear end of the shaft I8. The shafts 3| and 33 are connected together to rotate at the same speed in opposite directions by gears 35 and 31. The shaft 33 is rotated intermittently by mechanism not herein shown, but of substantially the same construction as that provided for similarly rotating the shaft I92 shown in the previously mentioned Letters Patent No. 2,523,480, to feed the margin of the upper over the shear block 5. The feed roll E5 occupies a position adjacent to the left-hand side of the shear block, and the upper-supporting surface 'I of the shear block is in a plane substantially tangential to the peripheral surface of the roll.

For slitting the margin of the upper the machine is provided with an oscillatory knife 39 having a cutting edge 4| (Fig. 2) which co operates with the shearing edge II on the shear block to form the series of slits a (Figs. 6 and 7) in the margin of the upper. The shearing edge and the path of movement of the knife are in such relation to the margin of the upper as to form slits arranged relatively to the margin as disclosed in the above-mentioned Letters Patent, except that the slits are reversely inclined relatively to the inner and outer faces of the upper as compared with that disclosure. That is, in common with that disclosure, the slits extend obliquely through the margin from one side thereof to the other side, extend farther inwardly from the edge of the upper on the inner face of the upper than on the outer face, and terminate on the inner and outer faces of the upper in lines which are non-radial to the curve of the edge of the upper.

The knife 39 is clamped on one arm 45 of a two-armed lever 45, 41 pivotally mounted for swinging movements about a vertical stud 49 secured in a bracket 5| which is fast on the head casting I. For oscillating the knife in the proper time relation to the feeding movements of the feed rolls the arm 41 is operated by mechanism not herein shown in detail but of substantially the same character as that disclosed in the above-mentioned Letters Patent for operating the knife 44 therein shown. It will be evident that the knife moves in a path extending generally lengthwise of the edge of the portion of the margin of the upper engaged by the feed rolls. To minimize any tendency for the knife to spring away from the shear block 5 as it cuts into the upper there is provided a roll mounted on a block 5'! which is secured to a bracket 59 on the previously mentioned bracket 5|. The roll bears against the upper surface of the knife-carrying arm 45 in the upper-slitting operation.

The marginal portion of the upper is clamped against the curved upper-engaging face 9 of the shear block 5 to hold it firmly in each upperslitting operation by a clamping member 6| having a slightly serrated upper-engaging face curved complementally to the face 9. The clamping member comprises a forwardly extending arm of a two-armed lever pivotally mounted on a vertical stud on a bracket 61 secured to the plate 22. This lever has a rearwardly extending arm 69 through a transverse bore in which extends one end portion of a rod 1|. A compression spring 13 mounted on this rod between the arm 69 and a collar I5 fast on the rod serves as yielding means through which the clamping member 6| is pressed against the margin of the upper when the rod is moved toward the right as viewed from the front of the machine. Nuts 11 on the end of the rod move the clamping member reversely to release the margin of the upper when the rod is moved in the opposite direction. The rod H is thus operated by the arm 41 of the knife-operating lever 45, 41, the left-hand end of the rod being pivotally connected with this arm by a stud 19. The parts are so arranged and proportioned that the clamping of the upper takes place just prior to the engagement of the cutting edge of the knife with the upper. Since the knife in acting on the upper moves toward the feed rolls in the same general direction in which the upper is fed, and since the clamping member 6| engages a portion of the margin of the upper not yet advanced into the path of movement of the knife, the portion on which the knife acts is held securely against any displacement by the knife in the upper-slitting operation.

The shear block 5 and the feed roll l5 may be adjusted as a unit upwardly or downwardly with respect to the knife 39, after the loosening of the bolts 24, by means of a setscrew 8| threaded in a portion of the head casting and engaging the lower face of the block l9. The setscrew is locked in adjusted position by means of a locknut 83, the bolts 24, moreover, being tightened again after the adjustment of the block.

In using the machine the operator, after having removed the endpulling-over tack, presents 5 the shoe to the machine with the bottom of the toe end of the insole in engagement with the front vertical face of the shoe rest l3 and with the portion of the margin of the upper which is adjacent to the portion thereof already secured to the insole near the toe at the left-hand side of the shoe bottom extending rearwardly between the feed rolls l5 and It, the upper feed roll 86 having been raised by depression of the treadle 129. It will be understood that the heel end of the shoe thus positioned extends toward the left and that portions of the margin of the upper at the right of the feed rolls extend over the faces 7, 9 and ID of the shear block 5, the upper-clamping member SI being in its retracted position. Having thus presented the shoe the operator releases the treadle 29 to cause the feed rolls to grip the margin of the upper and thereafter depresses a second clutch-actuating treadle (not shown) corresponding to the treadle 26 shown in the above-mentioned Letters Patent. This causes the feed rolls, the upper-slitting knife, and the clamping member 6| to'operate in the time relation to one another hereinbefore explained, the upper being fed intermittently by the feed rolls between the successiv operative movements of the knife and being clamped against the shear block by the member 6! immediately prior to each upper-slitting operation and released after each slitting operation. As the upper is fed by the feed rolls the operator continues to support the shoe in his hands, the feeding of the upper causing the heel end of the shoe to swing downwardly and toward the right and thereafter upwardly near the end of the upper-slitting operation. After the last slit has been made in the upper near the portion already secured to the insole at the right-hand side of the shoe bottom the operator releases the clutch-actuating treadle to cause the machine to come to a stop and thereafter depresses the treadle 29 to move the feed roll l6 upwardly and thus to release the margin of the upper.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent V of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the r margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, a knife mounted to move intermittently in a path extending generally lengthwise of the edge of the portion of the upper engaged by said feeding means to slit the margin of the upper obliquely from one side thereof to the other side between successive feeding movements thereof, and a shoe rest arranged to engagethe bottom of the toe end of the shoe to position the margin of the toe end of the upper relatively to the path of movement of said knife.

2; In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, a pair of feed rolls for engaging respectively the opposite sides of the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, a knife mounted to move intermitently in i of the toe end of the upper relatively to the path of movement of said knife.

3. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, means for engaging the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, a shear block over which the margin of the upper is fed by said feeding means, said shear block having a shearing edge thereon, a knife mounted to move intermittently in a path intersecting the margin of the upper and arranged to cooperate with said shearing edge to slit the margin between successive feeding movements thereof, and a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe to position the margin of the toe end of the upper relatively to the path of movement of said knife.

4. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, a pair of feed rolls for engaging respectively the opposite sides of the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittentl in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, a shear block over which the margin of the upper is fed by said feed rolls, said shear block having a shearing edge thereon, a knife mounted to move intermittently in a path extending generally lengthwise of the edge of the portion of the upper engaged by said feed rolls and arranged to cooperate with said shearing edge to slit the margin of the upper between successive feeding movements thereof, and a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe to position the margin of the toe end of the upper relatively to the path of movement of said knife. I

5. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, a pair of feed rolls for engaging respectively the opposite sides of the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, said feed rolls being mounted to rotate about forwardly and rearwardly extending axes and being positioned one above the other, a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe in front of the lower feed roll to position the shoe with the margin of the toe end of the upper between said rolls, and a knife mounted to move intermittently in a path intersecting the margin of the upper from one side thereof to the other side to slit said margin between successive feeding movements thereof.

6. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, a pair of feed rolls for engaging respectively the opposite sides of the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, said feed rolls being mounted to rotate about forwardly and rearw'ardly extending axes and being positioned one above the other, a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe in front of the lower feed roll to position the shoe with the margin of the toe end of the upper between said rolls, a shear block positioned at one side of the lower feed roll and over which the margin of the upper is fed by said rolls, said shear block having a shearing edge thereon, and a knife mounted to move intermittently in a path intersecting the margin of the upper and 'arranged to cooperate with said Shearing edge to slit said margin between successive feeding movements thereof.

'7. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, a pair of feed rolls for engaging respectively the opposite sides of the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, said feed rolls being mounted to rotate about forwardly and rearwardly extending axes and being positioned one above the other, a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe in front of the lower feed roll to position the shoe with the margin of the toe end of the upper between said rolls, a shear block positioned at one side of the lower feed roll and over which the margin of the upper is fed by said rolls, a knife mounted to move intermittently in a path intersecting the margin of the upper and arranged to cooperate with said shear block to slit said margin between successive feeding movements thereof, and a member for clamping intermittently against said shear block portions of the margin of the upper not yet advanced into the path of movement of the knife to hold against displacement the portions engaged by the knife in the upper-slitting operations.

8. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, means for engaging the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe to position the margin of the upper relatively to said feeding means, a knife mounted to move intermittently in a path intersecting the margin of the upper to slit said margin between successive feeding movements thereof, and means for intermittently clamping portions of the margin of the upper not yet advanced into the path of movement of the knife to prevent displacement of the portions acted upon by the knife in the upperslitting operations.

9. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, a pair of feed rolls for engaging respectively the opposite sides of the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe to position the shoe with the margin of the toe end of the upper between said feed rolls, a shear block over which the margin of the upper is fed by said rolls, a knife mounted to move intermittently toward said feed rolls in a path intersecting the margin of the upper and arranged to cooperate with said shear block to slit said margin between successive feeding movements thereof, and a ing the last, a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe to position the margin of the upper relatively to said feeding means, a shear block over which the margin of the upper is fed by said feeding means, a knife mounted to move intermittently in the same general direction in which the margin of the upper is fed and arranged to cooperate with said shear block to slit said margin between successive feeding movements thereof, an arm mounted for swinging movements thus to operate said knife, a clamping member mounted for movements to clamp against said shear block portions of the margin of the upper not yet advanced into the path of movement of the knife to hold against displacement the portions acted upon by the knife in the upper-slitting operations, and spring means for transmitting upper-clamping movement from said arm to said clamping member in the course of each upper-slitting movement of the knife.

11. In a machine for slitting the margins of shoe uppers, means for engaging the margin of the toe end of the previously pulled-over upper of a shoe mounted on a last and for feeding the margin of the upper intermittently in a direction lengthwise of its edge while similarly moving the last, a shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of the toe end of the shoe to position the margin of the upper relatively to said feeding means, a shear block over which the margin of the upper is fed by said feeding means, a knife mounted to move intermittently in the same general direction in which the margin of the upper is fed and arranged to cooperate with said shear block to slit said margin between successive feeding movements thereof, a lever supporting said knife and movable thus to operate it, another lever mounted for swinging movements to clamp against said shear block portions of the margin of the upper not yet advanced into the path of movement of the knife to hold against displacement the portions acted upon by the knife in the upper-slitting operations, a rod pivotally mounted on said first-named lever and arranged to move lengthwise relatively to said other lever, and a spring surrounding said rod for transmitting movement from the rod to said other lever to clamp the upper in the course of each upper-slitting movement of the knife.

JESSE GUDGER.

No references cited. 

